Ambon clashes force Butonese 'back home'<\/p>\n
By Elizabeth Collins<\/p>\n
BAU BAU, Southeast Sulawesi (JP): The refugee center in Bau
\nBau city is an open market next to a sports field. Between 500
\nand 1,000 refugees crowd under the roof on the cement platform.
\nIt is difficult to imagine how they would all find space to lie
\ndown at night.<\/p>\n
The refugees in this center know that sometime in the distant
\npast their ancestors migrated to Ambon from Buton Island, but
\nthey no longer know which village they came from, so they have
\nnowhere to go. Many are women with small children and no way to
\nearn money. Their children crowd around them, and their babies
\nsleeping on the floor look exhausted and poorly fed. Several
\nolder women crouch over gas burners making snacks to be sold the
\nnext day, but most people seem to have no energy and no idea how
\nthey will manage.<\/p>\n
Traumatized by the violence they have witnessed, the refugees
\nspoke of \"the terror\". One young man, the youngest of seven
\nchildren, had been a driver in Ambon. He said that on Jan. 20 he
\nreturned home to find the bodies of his parents and all his
\nbrothers and sisters cut to pieces. In Bau Bau he earns a bit of
\nmoney as a becak (three-wheel pedicab) driver to supplement the
\nmeager supply of rice provided for refugees.<\/p>\n
He hoped he would find relatives somewhere.<\/p>\n
According to local government figures compiled by the regent
\nof Buton, H. Sahiruddin Udu, there are now 37,000 refugees from
\nAmbon in Buton, and more continue to arrive.<\/p>\n
Frustrated that the central government has yet to grant any
\nassistance to these refugees, La Ode Masihu Kamaluddin, Inspector
\nGeneral of Development for Backward Regions, led an expedition of
\nreporters to Buton from March 25 to March 29 to collect
\ninformation on the condition of the refugees. At the last minute,
\none reporter was unable to join the team of observers, and
\nalthough I am a professor, not a journalist, I was invited to go
\nalong as a foreign representative.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the team of observers visited, the refugees at
\nthe market in Bau Bau had to be moved because of heavy rains and
\nflooding. Other refugee centers around Bau Bau city are located
\nin an orphanage beside a mosque and in a state Islamic institute.
\nAlthough these refugees also sleep on a cement floor, they are
\nsomewhat better off because they are protected from the weather.
\nHowever, the refugees reported that they had not eaten rice for
\nsome time, nor had they had any protein.<\/p>\n
The day the team visited, the refugees had been given instant
\nnoodles at noon, and this was the only food distributed for the
\nday. One mother showed the team her baby, a listless infant
\nsuffering from malnutrition; another child had a high fever.
\nSeven children have already died of diarrhea. The regent
\nexplained that it would take 12 tons of rice a day to feed all
\nthe refugees. All he could do was provide some rice and milk for
\npregnant women and babies. There was also a shortage of medicine
\nand doctors.<\/p>\n
In each of the five villages visited by the team of observers,
\nthere were between 700 and 1,500 refugees. These refugees had not
\nyet received any help from the government.<\/p>\n
Most lived on the ground under houses owned by relatives. The
\nresources of the villages were strained to breaking point. The
\nteacher at a village school said that formerly he had been
\nresponsible for just over 100 pupils. He had over 200 when we
\nvisited. Most of the refugee children had no books and no change
\nof clothes. They were hungry and traumatized.<\/p>\n
There is no simple solution to the problem of the refugees
\nfrom Ambon. Those interviewed by the team said they had been born
\nin Ambon. In many cases their families lived in Ambon for
\ngenerations.<\/p>\n
It was their home. Some want to go back to Ambon if there is
\nreal peace, others adamantly refused to return.<\/p>\n
\"We don't want to be attacked again,\" one villager said.<\/p>\n
Some of the refugees are farmers, but Buton is a harsh and
\nrocky island with no vacant land. Fishermen need boats and nets.
\nThe merchants, whose shops in Ambon were burned, have lost
\neverything. One woman demanded to know what the government would
\ndo to help them start again. The refugees who were university
\nstudents wondered how they would finish their studies now that
\ntheir families had lost everything and they could not go back to
\nAmbon for their exams.<\/p>\n
Representatives from the team of observers met with the
\ngovernor in Kendari, the capital of Southeast Sulawesi. He told
\nthem he had just learned that aid sent to the area had not
\narrived. He said he would investigate.<\/p>\n
The central government has yet to establish any program to
\nhelp the refugees of Buton.<\/p>\n
The beginning of a solution to the problem of the Butonese
\nrefugees may lie in civil society, in the actions of ordinary
\ncitizens channeled through non-governmental organizations. The
\nteam of observers has already established Yayasan Nurani Dunia, a
\nfoundation to provide aid to victims of social and natural
\ndisaster, with the motto \"People to People Aid\". The foundation
\nwill establish a Crisis Center in Jakarta to deal with
\nemergencies like the destruction wrought by the Ambon riots and
\nthe exodus of refugees.<\/p>\n
Treasurers of Yayasan Nurani Dunia, Ita Julia Lestari and Ann
\nShoemake, can be contacted at 021-3457830.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ambon-clashes-force-butonese-back-home-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}